In The Line Of Duty
by Ice Girl on Fire
Summary: It was just supposed to be a normal hunting trip. But you know how troublesome they always turned out to be. Featuring Merlin, King Arthur, Sirs Gwaine, Lancelot, Percival, Leon and Elyan. Another one of those captivity fanfics. Magic-reveal if you want it to be.
1. Chapter 1

**Merlin is not mine, sorry to say.**

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In The Line Of Duty

Chapter 1

Merlin was tired. Arthur had been surprisingly too enthusiastic since he was woken up this morning. The prat had been readied and fed breakfast within an hour of Merlin's fake-cheery version of,"Rise and Shine!"

After which King Prat instantly declared that they were going hunting. At nine in the morning! Merlin was surprised, to say the least. And annoyed beyond belief. He had to hurry all around the castle, gathering supplies, informing Arthur's Five Elite Knights to join them in the hunt—to which Gwaine had replied with a, "Sure, mate. What better way to start a day than killing some innocent animals". Merlin had replied with an exasperated, "Oh, believe me. It was not my idea!"—and getting the horses ready at the stable.

Merlin was positively panting like he had run a marathon by the end of his duties. Only then did he remember that he had to pack his own bag. He had hurried to his room, made sure to pick up everything he needed and was just out the door when Gaius came walking down the corridor to the Physician's chamber.

"Ah, there you are, Merlin! I want you to grab these herbs from the forest."

"Sure thing, Gaius. Arthur's just going for a hunt. I'll get them on the way."

Merlin said between gasps for air, snatched the list in the old man's hand and stuffed it into his overflowing bag hurriedly.

"See you later, Gaius!"

With that Merlin went running to the palace courtyard where the knights and Arthur were waiting for him.

"There you are, you big idiot! Where have you been?"

"Well, unlike some supercilious clotpoles who order people around, I have been doing some actual work."

Merlin muttered quietly while strapping his bag to the saddle and mounted his horse, Llaria. Then they had all taken off at a gallop to the forest.

XXXXX********************************XXXXX

_But now Merlin wished, if only they hadn't._


	2. Chapter 2

**I just don't own Merlin, but if I did, the ending sure would have been much better.**

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In The Line Of Duty

Chapter 2

_Merlin was decidedly very irritated. The tight ropes encircling his wrists may not have seemed as wicked as the metal restraints on the Knights' and the King's hands but it sure as hell was doing a lot more damage than the metal cuffs. There were already red welts appearing on his hand from the vicious rubbing of the infernal rope made of coarse fibre._

_They were all locked in a dark and damp and very smelly cell that barely had any room for the seven of them. Especially because of all the armor that six of them wore. The cell was completely made out of stone with various cuffs and chains emerging from the three walls. The other side had locked up metal bars. And to top it all off, Arthur and Lancelot were both sprawled out cold in the middle of the cell with identical bumps on their head __and their hands bound with the same rope as Merlin's__._

_The only ones not chained to the walls with metal links were Arthur, Lancelot and Merlin but their hands were bound together tightly in front of them. Percival sat leaning against one of the corners to conserve space while Gwaine lay taking up one whole side of the wall. Lancelot and Arthur lay perpendicular to him. Leon and Elyan also took up one whole side of the walls but they were sat up against it. Between the last two Merlin sat cradling Arthur's head in his lap, thinking how their journey to this particular point had started._

_XXXXX**************************XXXXX_

They had been at a steady gallop for over half an hour. All the while, the knights had kept up a steady line of complaints and comments all aimed at the impromptu hunting trip.

"I thought there would be some sword skill training before we did anything else today." Percival started.

"I thought the same but it's been a long time since we've had any fun like a hunt." Leon added.

"I was thinking I'd go visit that lovely lady I met at the tavern yesterday, but you totally ruined it with this bore of a trip, princess." Gwaine said with playful accusation.

"You can always just go back and search for her at the boring tavern, Gwaine, but you can always be sure that a hunt will be anything but boring." Arthur quipped.

"I'm pretty sure the tavern is anything but boring when Gwaine is around. He always manages to rally the strange folks into all kinds of fights." Merlin piped up.

"That I do, mate! It's just a part of my lucky charm to find trouble where ever I go."

"Well, let's hope we don't find any in our way ahead. I'd really hate for a long-awaited hunting trip to be ruined by some miscellaneous trouble." Elyan said.

xxxxx**********************XXXXX

_Merlin sat up straight suddenly and looked to his right just as a groan escaped Lancelot's mouth followed by a few dry coughs. Finally!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Why oh why does Colin Morgan not use social media? I can't possibly own Merlin, guys.**

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In the Line of Duty

Chapter 3

_Lancelot registered a vicious pounding behind his eyelids as he gradually gained consciousness. He groaned and coughed a few times, gingerly opening his eyes and blinking them to adjust to the dim light. He heard a surprised and relieved voice exclaiming, "Lancelot! Thank god you're awake."_

_Merlin, his mind recognized dully as he looked around the cell. The knights all stared back at him mutely, all their eyes reflecting hopelessness._

"_What happened?" Lancelot rasped out hoarsely._

"_We were captured. You got knocked out." Merlin replied._

_He sat up and looked at the knights huddled all around the tiny space. The most shocking sight in this moment was the huge knife wound in Arthur's gut stained crimson. _

_Lancelot remembered now that they had been captured right after it was inflicted and Merlin hadn't had a chance to patch it up. Being the fierce warrior that he was, Arthur had still continued to parry the attacks of the bandits but exhaustion and pain overtook him as the knife was moved around with his movements. _

_It was the last straw when a particularly grubby bandit came up behind him and delivered an audible thump to his temple with the hilt of his sword. One of the bandits had cruelly ripped out the knife and let Arthur bleed freely. That's all he could recall. _

_Merlin explained, after that they had been none-too-gently dragged to their cells. Merlin had tried his best to staunch the bleeding with his jacket but was failing spectacularly._

_XXXXX**********************************XXXXX_

Arthur put up a hand just as they turned a sharp fork in the path and entered a wide clearing.

"Let's set up camp here and hunt for animals in the surrounding areas. I should hope that we are deep enough into the forest to get some good game."

"Well, let's just hope that we do manage to get good game and not become game itself while we're at it."

Merlin muttered drily as he tied his horse to a tree. The others did the same and started picking up their hunting gears of choice.

"Merlin, why don't you shut up and try to be your least clumsy self so as to not frighten away any animals."

"Well, if I'm so clumsy, then why do still take me along for these hunts?"

"Oh, you see, you happen to be good for at least one thing."

"And that is?"

"Carrying my hunting weapons, of course."

Arthur said just as he threw a spear aimed at just above Merlin's head. Like expected, Merlin ducked and the spear embedded itself into the tree behind him.

"Now come and gather all these equipments and hurry up."

Merlin laboriously picked everything up with experienced skill and followed the armor-clad group as stealthily as he could.


	4. Chapter 4

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In The Line Of Duty

Chapter 4

_Lancelot stood up in a rage and rattled the metal bars, shouting furiously._

"_Hey! Let us out of here! Do you have any idea who we all are?!"_

"_It's no use, Lance. Calm down and try to conserve your energy."_

_Merlin whispered to him. Lancelot let out a sigh of anger and reined in his fury, then knelt beside Arthur and asked, "How is he?"_

"_He's not doing good. I need supplies to treat his wound."_

_Merlin said, bowing his head down and it was hard to tell if he was crying or simply staring at Arthur. As if that could miraculously wake up the king. Lancelot only deflated further, his shoulders still tense but he was starting to reflect the gloomy atmosphere in the cell. _

_Unbeknownst to the rest of the occupants of the cell, Merlin was trying his best at non-verbal magic to stop the bleeding or at least wake Arthur up. But it was of no use. Merlin hung his head even lower and did his best to not cry as Arthur's face grew even more paler. His dirty blond hair was stuck to his pasty skin and Merlin gently parted Arthur's hair from his sweaty forehead._

"_Come on, dollop-head. You better wake up if you want us all to get out of this place. And you better not let a stupid knife stab be your last battle wound, you prat."_

_In the relative silence Merlin whispered so quietly and heart-brokenly that it worried the others even more. If their only physician sounded so hopeless, they were much more acutely concerned for their King's life._

_XXXXX*********************************************XXXXX_

Merlin gritted his teeth and pulled on the spear that Arthur had thrown at the tree while trying his best to not let any of the weapons that he was skillfully carrying fall to the ground. After much straining on his part, it finally came out and he landed on his backside on a thankfully soft patch of soil, all the stuff he was carrying making a thudding and clinking noise.

"Merlin! Where are you?!"

Arthur shouted from the direction that the group was heading and Merlin only shouted back from his spot on the ground.

"I'm coming! On my way!"

Merlin carefully got onto his knees then clumsily pushed himself onto his feet, giving himself a mental pat on the back for not dropping anything. He then headed in the direction of Arthur's voice, lugging the various assortment of spears and swords and bows and quivers. He finally made it to the group and handed Arthur the spear.

"Now try to keep up and don't make any noise, you clumsy oaf."

"If I'm making so much noise then you should have just left me back at the camp."

"Well, if we'd left you back at the camp then we wouldn't have anyone to carry all this, now would we?" Arthur replied in his most jokingly condescending manner.

"At least you admitted that you actually need me." Merlin mumbled conspiratorially and Arthur playfully poked him in the back with the blunt side of the spear.

"What was that?" Arthur asked, trying to sound threatening.

"Nothing, Sire." Merlin sighed with a smile and they got on with hunt.

After hours of trudging through the uneven terrain, Merlin sighed as he dropped all the hunting gear that he had been carrying and plopped onto the ground tiredly. They had managed to catch two rabbits and a small stag. The group of knights and the King had decided that it was enough for their lunch and promptly dropped their game in front of Merlin after they had arrived back at the camp.

"Come on Merlin, get your lazy backside up and have all this cooked by lunchtime."

"At least start skinning them, will you? I always do all the work and you don't even let me have any in the end." Merlin groaned out and got up to ready all his secret ingredients from his bag and went to get some water from the stream that they'd come upon earlier.

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_Merlin and all the knights straightened up as they heard a dragging sound outside their cell. Gwaine sat up abruptly and shifted to be in front of Arthur and Merlin along with Lancelot as the noise got closer. It was a screeching noise like someone dragging an axe through a rocky floor and it chilled them to their bones. As all of them looked on at the metal bars of the cell, the tense silence thickening even more, they first saw fire from a torch light up the corridor then a hooded figure appeared from the darkness to stand right in front of their cell. The man spoke in a deep, hoarse voice._

_"Your King has been requested for an audience with My Lady, Morgana."_


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! Just to make sure there is no confusion…**

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In The Line Of Duty

Chapter 5

Merlin looked on comically as all the dollop-heads he had just cooked a delicious meal for came one after another to pile up their empty plates in a growing tower atop his hands. He gave a huff as Arthur heavily dropped the empty pot on top of the tower of plates and teasingly licked the last remains of the yummy stew, giving extra emphasis with a, "Hm-mm, that's delightful."

"Now go wash all that and be back within half an hour."

Merlin shook his head with a smile and turned to walk towards the river. He was glad that however much they liked to play jokes on him, they still always made sure that he got at least a minimum amount of food to eat.

He reached the stream and heard footsteps behind him, "Come to give me more to wash?" Merlin asked jokingly, thinking it was one of the knights. Maybe Lancelot or Gwaine as they sometimes helped him with the washing up. He turned around when the expected quip didn't come and only silence reigned.

Just to stagger back and almost fall into the flowing water, coming to a stop at the last moment due to the pile of pebbles at the bank.

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_The hooded man lifted his left hand that held a lit torch and the metal bars swung open outwards as his eyes glowed golden from within the depths of his velvet hood, the rest of his face shadowed. In his other hand he held a long oaken haft of a vicious-looking axe at least five foot in length. The axe trailed behind him on the dungeon floor, its blade gleaming evilly in the dim firelight._

_As the man menacingly walked into the cell, Gwaine and Lancelot stood to face him, the rest of the knights following them and standing up surrounding their king._

"_Ye can't have the King. You'll have to go through the rest of us first." Gwaine said stiffly._

"_I have no need for the rest of you." The man whispered and dragged the axe to make it stand like a cane towards his right side, the blade making screeching noises as it dug into the stone floor, carving grooves through it. _

_As it came to a perfect stand, the man's eyes glowed aurous again and the knights were all swept off their feet and hurtled to the walls, all crumpling to the floor after a very audible thunk to their heads._

_Merlin, now the only one conscious among their group, frightfully raised his eyes to the man and whispered, "Who are you?" The man ignored his question and asked._

"_Shall I take your King now?"_

"_N-n-no." Merlin said shakily then leapt to his feet abruptly to stand in front of Arthur._

"_No! You can't have him. He is dying anyway. He will be of no use to you in the condition he is right now." He said forcefully and with authority in his voice._

"_Well, I understand that you are a physician, boy. You will heal him for us then. Just stop his death. He has much to suffer for before that."_

"_And why would I do that if you are only going to make him suffer?"_

"_Oh, you see, only he needs to suffer. Whereas these knights can easily be killed with a snap of my fingers. And I have no use for them anyway."_

"_...Except for maybe entertainment. But I can surely kill one and still have four left, more than enough for our celebrations." The man added as an afterthought._

_Merlin glared straight at him fiercely then spoke up, "Alright then, I will heal him for you and you will have to give me your word that you will not hurt any of these men in exchange for that. But I cannot do much without my medicine bag."_

"_Then it is a good thing that we brought it along then, don't you think?" The man said with a crooked smile, showing off his yellowing misaligned teeth._

"_You must swear first."Merlin said obstinately._

"_Alright then, I swear on my magic not to hurt any of these men if you heal your King."_

_Merlin nodded and posed a last question, "You didn't answer my first question. Who are you?"_

"_Oh, I am your worst nightmare. The only other warlock with mighty enough power to stand up against the great Emrys. His only equal in the magical realm, is what I am fated to be. His evil counterpart, if you will."_

_The man finished with a mocking bow of his head and his most crooked grin. Merlin looked on in stunned silence, his eyes wide in surprise and fear._

"_Now come."_


	6. Chapter 6

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**Now onto the story!**

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In The Line Of Duty

Chapter 6

"Hi There." Merlin said cautiously, subtly trying to get away from the river bank and towards the forest without crossing paths with the bandit standing in front of him with his sword drawn. But the cranky old man only gave a battle cry and charged straight at him. Merlin stumbled to the side and used his magic to make the bandit go flying straight into the stream. Then Merlin ran towards their camp, dodging and disarming a few bandits in the way with his magic.

As he emerged in the clearing, he saw the knights all fighting with their swords clanging and swishing and ripping. Merlin spotted Arthur and ran to him, who put himself between Merlin and the oncoming onslaught of bandits.

"Merlin! There you are! I thought the bandits got you." Arthur shouted as he slashed at one bandit and parried the blow from another. "Don't worry! I got away!" Merlin shouted back as he ducked to avoid Arthur's sword as it came in wide circle to hit a particularly large and grubby bandit.

"Grab some of our supplies, Merlin. We should retreat." Arthur said as he slowly moved towards where their horses were. Merlin picked up his medicine bag and got his own bag onto his shoulders from their spot beside the horses. Then he moved to Arthur's horse and plucked his main supplies. He moved to pick all the knights' bags too as Arthur guarded him.

"Got as much as I can carry." Merlin shouted to Arthur as they moved again.

"Then come on, stay behind me, Merlin."

This time the knights and Arthur came to stand in a circle with Merlin in the middle.

"We have to retreat! Maintain the circle and move to the edge of the clearing slowly."

Arthur yelled at the knights as two bandits charged at him. He drove his sword into one's guts and turned to find the other one falling backwards. He shook his head, thinking how much like Merlin some of these bandits were fighting and slashed and ripped through all who came in his way. But there were too many and they seemed to be keep on coming from all sides. As they finally reached the edge of the clearing, Arthur yelled at their shabby group to run, keeping an eye out for Merlin.

Within minutes, they had outrun the bandits and were panting with exhaustion as they all sat down in a circle. Merlin gave them water and tended to their wounds after dumping all their bags to the side. Gwaine and Lancelot only had a few cuts that Merlin applied a salve on. Leon and Percival only had a few bruises and were the least injured out of the knights.

"So where did they come from?" Merlin asked as he applied honey to a long slash at Elyan's elbow.

"From their clothes, they must be from Cenrid's kingdom. It would make sense as we are near the border after all." Arthur replied and Merlin finally turned to him to assess his injuries. After seeing nothing amiss with him visibly, Merlin asked,"Are you injured?"

"No." Arthur replied and emptied a water bag thirstily. "Hey, we need to conserve water. Most of our supplies are gone." Merlin told him in a scolding manner.

"We can get more from a stream, Merlin."

"Well, if you are willing to go to a stream, then I suggest you go to the one back there. Because I dropped all the dishes and the pot there." Merlin mumbled quietly.

"What did you just say, Merlin?!" Arthur exclaimed.

"How are we gonna eat now, you dollop-head?"

"Well, I'll just go back and get them." Merlin replied with a strained smile.

"Are you joking? How are you gonna defend yourself if those bandits show up?"

"Okay. One of you can just tag along with me then."

"I'll go." Lancelot piped up readily.

"No. Merlin here will have to tolerate me as punishment for leaving behind the dishes." Arthur said with a grin and pulled Merlin into a brotherly headlock as they both stood up to leave.

"Oh come on! Let me go, you clot-pole."

"What was that, you idiot?" Arthur asked as he lightly bumped Merlin on the head with his fist.

They were both laughing as they walked in the direction of the stream, bickering with each other as they went and Merlin rubbing his head with a toothy grin lighting up his face.

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_Merlin shakily followed the man, thinking that what he said couldn't possibly be true. He tensed when Arthur's unconscious body levitated into the air and floated after them. He bent to grab his bloody jacket as it slipped to the floor from atop Arthur. They exited the cell and Merlin glanced at the knights worriedly as the metal bars locked with the help of the man's magic, following the man as he once again dragged his axe in that menacingly evil way of his._

"_When I said, 'Who are you?', I just meant what your name was. But all that you just said back there made no sense at all." _

_Merlin said quietly in a cautious tone._

"_Well, I am the great Wooten, brought back from the dead by the Lady Morgana. And that is all you shall hear from me, boy. Keep your mouth shut or else be prepared to lose your voice."_

_The man growled at him over his left shoulder then kept walking. Merlin followed with a gulp as Arthur floated horizontally beside him in the corridor._

_As they walked, Merlin memorized the way as they would have to come back for the knights if or when they staged an escape. Right turn. The man-Wooten-lifted his axe onto his shoulder here. Stairs leading up. Wooten dragged the axe again. Another right turn. Then a left and finally at the top of another long flight of stairs, where Wooten dragged the axe across the wall, he spotted light._

_The man left the torch he was carrying at a stand right inside the arch and stepped over the last few stairs, again electing to drag his 'shodden axe' through the corridors, Merlin thought, now very annoyed._

_They finally emerged at the arched entrance to the corridor of what seemed like an old castle. Merlin let out a sigh when he saw sunlight streaming in from the wide openings in the wall opposite the arch. They were not underground anymore. Merlin breathed in the fresh air and kept walking, glancing at Arthur every few seconds and gripping his brown jacket tightly in his rope-bound hands in anticipation for what was to come._


	7. Chapter 7

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In The Line Of Duty

Chapter 7

Merlin and Arthur trudged through the forest quietly, making as much noise as they dared to.

"So, Merlin, where was that stream?" Arthur asked as he stepped over a mangled tree root and landed on a stone, wobbling for a moment then finding stable ground.

"Well, it should be somewhere near here." Merlin pointing into the trees on their right as he too avoided stepping on wild outcroppings of rocks and plants alike.

"Somewhere near here? Are you sure? Because it seems like you have got us lost." Arthur said, rolling his eyes.

"It's not like I was watching where we were going while running from there." Merlin offered as an explanation, flailing his arms around.

"Well, you better get a move on and find this river, Merlin, or else I am dragging you by your neckerchief all the way back to the others." Arthur said warningly and looked to Merlin, who was looking around wildly.

"Shh. Shh. Do you hear that?" Merlin whispered at him.

"Hear what, Merlin? The rusty old cogs in your brain finally starting to turn?" Arthur whispered to him just as fiercely as he had shushed him.

"No! Running water. Come on. This way." Merlin said exasperatedly and started walking somewhere to their left.

This part of the forest was thick with lush-green trees and all kinds of moss, shrubs and other plants growing wildly everywhere they stepped. Not to mention the scraggly and crookedly bent tree roots cluttering the forest floor like a hundred-year-old blanket. As they both waded through this area, Merlin gave a shout of triumph.

"Yes! See, I told you I heard running water." Merlin shouted back at him over his shoulder and promptly tripped over a tree root and went flying in to the ground with a loud thump. Arthur carefully stepped over to where Merlin was lying face-down, rolling his eyes and smiling with exasperation at Merlin's astounding clumsiness.

"You never cease to amaze me with your clumsiness, Merlin." Arthur laughed as Merlin slowly lifted his muddy face out of the ground with a muttered, "Ow."

Arthur turned to where they had been going and saw the narrow stream with its running water shimmering cheerfully in the sunlight as it flowed to the right.

"Aha! But it looks like you found the river. Good work, Merlin." Arthur quipped turning to Merlin, who spit mud out of his mouth and slowly got to his feet with a sour look directed at the King.

"Oh yeah, look what I also found." Merlin muttered, plucking a snail by its shell off of his shoulder and holding it right in front of Arthur's face.

"Eww. What is that? Your distant relative?!" Arthur replied sourly and moved away with a disgusted expression thrown at the snail. Merlin threw the snail into the undergrowth with an eye roll and walked to the river, splashing his face with water and getting the mud off his clothes.

"Look there, Merlin. See what I found." Arthur said after walking a few feet in the direction of the flowing water. Merlin looked up and saw him pointing at a bend in the river's path where something shiny glinted.

"I believe that must be our lost dishes. Now come along."

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_After a minute's walk through the clearly crumbling castle, they reached a room that was the size of Arthur's throne room. Merlin looked around at the room with its assortment of various empty cots and armchairs and tables. It was obviously a chamber for the sick to recuperate. _

_Wooten walked to one of the cots and set Arthur down on it and himself sat down on the one opposite to it, then rested his axe on the nearby wall. He made a swishing motion with his hand and Merlin's medicine bag came flying from a corner of the room and landed on the small bedside table at Arthur's right side. Wooten tuned to Merlin and looked at him expectantly._

"_Well, go on then. Fix your King."_

_Merlin nodded with a fierce and intense look in his eyes, his cobalt eyes seeming to be almost smoldering like burning ice._


	8. Chapter 8

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**You lovely readers! I cannot believe my own eyes. 1,920 views!.O.O. Color me pleased. I love you guys, seriously. But you know how cruel this world is! My family has planned a trip that I can't get out of and because of that I might not post any chapters for about 2 weeks. I am very sorry, guys. But after this chapter or the next one, I won't be as regular as I used to be. But you can be assured that I will not let go of this story. Even though school is going to start right after my trip, I will try my best to keep this up. Cuz you guys totally deserve it! **

**Warning(Kinda): Also, any medical stuff in this chapter is completely made up, not at all legit and there may be a bit of bloody stuff but I don't think it's terribly graphic.**

**Please let me know your thoughts too. Any mistakes, suggestions, or whatever. I wanna hear it all.**

**And, like always, I don't own Merlin...just the story of my crappy life.**

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In The Line Of Duty

Chapter 8

_Merlin swiped the sweat gathering at his brow irritatedly with his dirty and bloodied sleeve. Wooten had made the ropes binding his hands disappear with a swipe of his hand right after he told him to start. He had thrown his bloody jacket away and taken a deep breath, trying to focus and not caring where his jacket went flying._

_He had started by patiently and carefully getting rid of Arthur's armor. The voiders on his arms were easy enough to remove but the huge chest-shoulder piece called hauberk was a bit harder to get off of him without jostling his injury too much. _

_After much pulling and jolting Merlin finally tossed all parts of the metal armor onto the bed behind him and assessed Arthur's face, breathing and pulse for any indication of how he was doing._

_He was as pale as the sheets beneath him, if not more. Sweat gathered on his pasty forehead where his blond fringe was stuck. Meanwhile, his breathing remained shallow and his pulse jumpy. His closed eyelids remained unmoving and there was a little swollen bump on his right temple where he had been thumped into unconsciousness. Merlin prayed that he didn't have a serious concussion and hadn't lost too much blood. _

_After the hauberk came the sword's belt and the chain mail with a hole in it stained red then the fluffy cushioning red jacket also ripped with a hole and bloody. Merlin pulled out the heavily stained white shirt from where it was tucked into the belt worn to keep Arthur's pants up and let out a heavy breath. This was just the easy part. Now came the hard part. Patching up the stab wound._

_After completely removing the shirt, Merlin tossed it behind him—where all the other articles of clothing were thrown haphazardly—without even looking, knowing it would land on the bed or the floor. Scrutinizing the stab wound with all the accuracy he could manage, Merlin came to the conclusion that the bleeding had almost stopped. There was a lot of dried blood that had to be cleaned. _

_He then opened his sphere-like circular medicine bag on the bedside table and analyzed the best ingredients with which to treat Arthur. Alright, now he just needed some hot water and a table to mix his potions and other remedies. Merlin cleared his throat and looked towards Wooten, with his eyes blown wide expectantly, who was still sitting on the bed in front of him, on Arthur's left side. Merlin speculated as to whether he should go ahead and talk or wait until the man got his point._

"_You can speak now. What is it, boy?" The man asked in his scratchy voice. Merlin sighed, glad that he understood and started spouting a list of all that he needed. _

"_Can I pull up a table over here?" Merlin gestured subtly to the foot of Arthur's bed. _

"_And I need a pot full of hot water and some bowls and spoons." Merlin said in a rush, wary of accidentally pissing off the creepy man._

_Wooten turned his dark gaze from Merlin to a nearby table that swiftly slid across the floor, just as his eyes flashed gold, and came to a stand-still right where Merlin had pointed. _

"_Go on, you'll find your supplies in those cupboards over there. And there are a few chamber pots with fresh water lining that wall." Wooten said as he nodded his head towards the far wall of the chamber, opposite to the entrance. _

_There were two cupboards on the left corner and a line of half a dozen chamber pots beside them. On the right corner, a closed metal door was flanked by wooden shelves filled with herbs, roots, stems, flowers, potions, scientific instruments and other medicinal supplies on both sides._

"_And no sudden moves or clever ideas, boy. Be warned. Your dear knights will be the ones to suffer for it." Wooten ground out threateningly through his gritted teeth._

_Merlin nodded to him and walked to one of the cupboards, found a pot of the right size and filled it with water from one of the chamber pots(after smelling and licking the liquid). He came and placed it on the table and walked back again to hunt for the appropriate utensils. After retrieving all that he thought he would need he carried it all in his arms carefully and dumped them on the table. Merlin looked to Wooten imploringly._

"_Hot water, please." He stated, pointing at the pot full of the cool liquid._

"_Just lukewarm." He added when the self-proclaimed warlock turned to the pot. Wooten gave a tiny nod, muttered a spell and the water began to boil immediately. Merlin poured some of the water into a bowl with a ladle and took it to the bedside table. He added a few powders and potions to the warm water and stirred it with a glass rod then grabbed several leafy herbs, all from his medicine bag._

_Pulling a white handkerchief-like rag from his supply, he dipped it in the water then twisted the linen cloth to get the excess water out. Laying it out flat on his left palm, he placed the herbs in the center of the rag and tied the opposite corners together, making a poultice out of it. He turned Arthur's head to the left and applied slight pressure on the bump on his temple with the poultice. After rubbing it a bit on the affected area he left it there and moved on to the stab wound. That poultice should bring down the swelling._

_Merlin brought out another rag just like the one before and dipped it also in the water. As the cloth soaked in the mixture of the cleansing powders and potions in the water, Merlin went to the table and brought a plate this time. _

_He took out the second rag too and twisted the dripping water out of it and started cleaning the knife wound. He first cleared away the dried blood on the surrounding areas to the wound then got another rag and did the same cleansing procedure as before after dropping the bloodied rag on the plate. It took him four rags to clean all the blood. When the wound was all cleaned up, he took a proper look at it to assess for infections and internal damage._

_Thankfully, no vital organs were damaged, Merlin had subtly checked with his magic, and whatever was damaged would certainly heal up properly. It seemed the knife had cut him vertically, leaving a long gash but not cutting too deeply. There was also no sign of any infection setting in. It seemed that some of his frantic spells in the cell may have worked after all. It was, in other words, a miracle. Arthur would only need a few stitches and some herb and honey coated dressing for the wound. _

_So he started by applying some honey and a few pastes he had just mixed up onto the gash. Then he extracted long strips of clothing from his supplies, grabbed a few herbs, powders, potions and roots and put all these into the pot on the table with warm water. He told the man to make the water boil and after five minutes he was extracting the stripped cloth and the other ingredients onto another plate. He brought this to Arthur's side and first stacked all the herbs that had soaked up the medicinal properties from the other ingredients onto Arthur's wound then put another cleansed rag on top of all this to hold it together._

_He picked up the long strips after that and wound it around Arthur's torso, with help from Wooten to hold Arthur in a sitting position, with magic of course. As he tied the dressing together and made Arthur lay back down, finally done with all that he could do as a physician, he looked at Arthur after giving him a potion for pain and a sleeping draught and stroked his blond hair out of his forehead. His pale and pasty skin was already starting to look better and he appeared to be asleep and breathing much better. Merlin gave a long sigh and turned to Wooten._

"_I'm all done. He should be alright after a few day's bed rest."_

"_When will he awake?" Wooten asked._

"_Uh... When the effect of the sleeping draught goes away. That would be by tomorrow morning, I think." Merlin answered a bit reservedly._

"_Alright boy, clear away all this. Put all the garbage in the barrel below this bed and the utensils back from where they came. You better wash it too."_

_Merlin put the bloodied rags and Arthur's white shirt in the barrel. He salvaged all the ingredients he could from what he had used and put the rest in the barrel too. The pots and plates and other utensils, he carried to the low buckets placed near the chamber pots and washed then kept it all back in the cupboard, right from where he had taken it. He turned around to find that the table had moved back to its former position and walked back to Arthur's bed. Folding Arthur's remaining clothing and arranging the armor neatly on the bed beside him, Merlin finally turned and stood to face Wooten._

_Merlin suddenly remembered his jacket and how cold it was in the dungeons. He carefully asked the man who was now standing up and retrieving his axe._

"_Can I please wash this jacket too?" Merlin said grabbing his brown jacket._

_The man turned to him with the axe hefted on his shoulder. For a second, Merlin thought the man was just going to decapitate him by the look in his eyes, but Wooten only turned golden eyes to his jacket that miraculously lost all trace of blood and dirt. Merlin sighed in relief but tensed as tight ropes of coarse fibre bound his hands in front of him once again._

"_Alright then, boy, come along and remember to keep that pretty mouth of yours shut."_

_XXXXX*****************************************XXXXX_

Merlin and Arthur had finally found the lost dishes. As Merlin cleaned them up in the stream, Arthur sneaked up to their previous camp to see if any of their things could be retrieved. He was quite pleasantly surprised to find that all their supplies had been left there. But there was no trace of their horses. Arthur thought it strange that it looked as if the bandits had left in a hurry and had carelessly gotten rid of all their bags that had been weighing down the horses. But it was a good thing, all the same and Arthur walked back to Merlin after picking up all their bags and said with a grin.

"Look here, Merlin. All our bags were right there. Only the horses were gone." Arthur dumped all the bags right beside Merlin, who looked up at him and only said.

"Really? Strange bandits."

Merlin then arranged the bags in such a way as to carry them easily and stuffed the dishes in some of the emptier ones. After he had hefted it all onto his shoulders, Arthur saying that he was the King when he politely asked him to carry some of the bags. Merlin rolled his eyes at him and stumbled along a bit clumsily, trying not to trip. They went back the exact way they had come from and when they were about a couple of minutes away from where the knights were, a very strange thing happened.

Merlin had been trying his best to see where he was stepping, not wanting to drop all the load that he was carrying, but the setting sun made it very hard. He had suddenly felt a cold waft of air right behind them and turned around. In the cold light of dusk, he felt the movement of the forest slowing down, the swinging branches, flying leaves and swaying plants all stopping their movement in an eerie sort of way. It felt as if time had slowed down and was slowly but surely coming to a stop, all in front of Merlin. Everything moved in an agonizingly slow speed. As Merlin watched, the cold seeping into his bones, an old women appeared in front of him with a staff held in her right hand and clothed in a black woollen dress with a hood.

"Emrys... Emrys... Emrys..." She whispered with precise gap between the repeated words and with pain-filled bloodshot blue eyes, and all other noise was drowned out in a rapidly increasing howling sound of the wind. As the howling got impossibly louder, Merlin was frozen looking at the pale-faced women. She looked as if all life had been drained out of her and only a shell of her former being, not really existing on all planes of this world of the living. The cold was becoming unbearable and his breath was now coming in gasps as the world spun around him. Before Merlin knew what was going on, the world had taken a complete 180 degree change in position and he was staring up at the canopy of the dark green forest. The last thing he saw from his collapsed position on the forest floor before he closed his eyes was Arthur's worried face right in front of him. Arthur was saying something but Merlin could neither hear nor understand any of it and only thought that the wind was so very loud. Almost involuntarily, his eyes closed and he gave into the welcoming warmth and silence of the darkness.

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**So how was it? Somehow, this has turned out to be what I consider my best chapter so far. I really hope this will be enough fuel for you minds until I get back. And anyone remember the first episode of fourth season? I think I may be planning to attach the time line of my story with that dorocha incident. So, anyway.**

**Bye, Sayonara and Ciao!**

**Till we meet again!**

**XoxoSherryXoxo**


	9. Chapter 9

**Moniurek, benthe1, Mad-eye-93.**

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**Wow People! You have all been amazing! Especially all those readers out there and even more all those who reviewed and faved and followed. Just keep reading and I'll keep writing, at least for now. But I'm afraid my updates might get even more delayed after this. I am very sorry about it, but it is simply not in my power to make up time. If only Merlin would rise out of my dreams and help me out.**

**I have come up with a plan. In a phrase, "A Chapter A Month", policy. Got it, guys? **

**Also, please, please vote in my poll to choose the pairing you want to see here, because I am having a really hard time deciding and might decide to not have any pairings at all.**

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In The Line Of Duty

Chapter 9

Arthur had just started to hope that the day seemed to be finally getting better. After all the events of the unexpectedly long day, he thought they could finally get back to camp, have a delicious dinner, get a good night's sleep and then start heading back to Camelot in the morning.

But, like always, his luck never was that good. He'd kept up a brisk pace towards their provisional camp but had to slow down a bit for Merlin to catch up. As clumsy as ever but thankfully not tripping or falling, Merlin made enough noise lugging all their stuff to scare away all animals in a mile's radius.

Now that Arthur thought about it, the noise was not there anymore. Sighing as he turned around to give Merlin a tongue-lashing for probably either having tripped and fallen to the forest floor or taking a break, his words died in his mouth as he saw Merlin collapse to the ground on his back, all the baggage scattered around him. He was beside the fallen servant within an instant.

"Merlin? If this is some kind of joke, you are so..."

He stopped abruptly as he took a proper look at his manservant, grabbing him by the elbows and shaking slightly, wondering if he was having some kind of seizure.

Merlin looked chalk-white in the dim moonlight as he let out haggard breaths, his slight figure and his clouded eyes barely focusing on anything but skittering around every-which-way.

"Merlin! Merlin! Dammit!"

Arthur cursed as Merlin's eyes, after focusing on his face for a mere second, rolled back into his head but little gasps still left through his teeth, as if he was cold or something. Arthur put his hand to Merlin's forehead, expecting to probably find a slight fever, but all he felt was a cold, freezing coolness emanating from Merlin. His brows furrowing in worry, Arthur rubbed Merlin's arms, trying to get him warmer and also slapped him on the cheek a few times to wake him up but found it was to no avail.

Arthur let out a tired sigh and after one last worried look at the still subtly gasping in cold Merlin, started gathering all their leftover bags onto one shoulder and then lifted Merlin onto the other shoulder. Gritting his teeth against the burden he was carrying, Arthur started walking in the general direction of where they had come from.

The sooner they both got back to the others, the sooner he could find out what was wrong with Merlin.

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_Gwaine started his journey back to the land of the living by first familiarizing himself with the vicious pounding of the jackhammer behind his eyes. He shifted where he lay slumped against the wall with a groan and blinked his eyes against the bright dimness of the cell that was relatively more headache-inducing than the inside of his eyelids._

"_Wha tha hell?" He gritted out, his accent more pronounced as he sat up tiredly and looked around. Lancelot and Percival stared back at him from their own slumped positions around the cell._

"_Welcome back to the world of the waking, sleeping beauty." Lancelot whispered hoarsely with a cough._

"_Where's Arthur? And Merlin?!" Gwaine shouted at him as it all came back to him, some creepy guy had come to take Arthur._

"_We don't know. They were both gone when I woke up. That guy must have knocked us all out." Percival replied evenly, his brows furrowed in a cute yet troubled manner. _

"_Seriously?! How could one old guy have knocked us all out? And why would he take Merlin?" _

_Gwaine had to get some answers, now. Then he had to find a way to get out of here, with their whole group of course. _

"_We don't know Gwaine. Just calm down for now and let's try to come up with a plan." Lancelot said with a placating gesture. _

_Gwaine wiped his hand across his face and took a few deep breaths to try and calm himself. Freaking out when he was supposed to be coming up with a plan to get them out would be of no use. Merlin and Arthur just had to be alright. _

"_Okay. How long do you think we were out?"_

"_Maybe not more than a few hours. But could be longer." Percival said pensively._

_Gwaine nodded and closed his eyes, leaning his head back onto the grimy wall. They all silently waited for the other two to wake up and were rewarded with a groan from Elyan within several minutes. Almost simultaneously, Leon too scrunched up his eyes and slowly opened them to reveal honest brown eyes._

_When they were both coherent and had exhausted their question bank about what had happened, getting half-hearted answers from the other three knights, they all fell silent again. It almost seemed like they were waiting for something unspoken to happen. Just as Gwaine was falling asleep with his eyes starting to droop, they all heard the sound and snapped upright. _

_It was the same screeching sound they had heard earlier. Of that creepy man's dragging axe. It seemed even more ominous this time, somehow. It got louder and louder as a faint fire light became visible. _

_Within seconds they were all on their feet, the man from earlier had appeared at their cell door again and they all collectively tensed in anticipation but seeing Merlin, Gwaine and Lancelot let out a sigh of relief._

_The knights all glared at the hooded figure, afraid to break the wrought-iron silence. The man only lifted up his hand that held the torch and his eyes glowed gold. The knights found themselves suddenly pinned against the walls of the cells by an invisible force—magic—as the door opened and Merlin was roughly pushed in. The invisible force let up within a second, but it was a second too late. As the man had already locked the cell and was starting to walk back the way he'd come._

"_Goodnight, boys. Get some sleep. You'll need it tomorrow at the fight."_

_Came the hoarse voice of the hooded creep as he walked away, chuckling to himself darkly._


End file.
